Veterans Community Alliance of Louisville’s Resource Guide

 

Robert P. Givens has built a solid career in the area of national security. As president of RPG Consulting, he uses his leadership and problem solving skills to coach clients on strategic planning and alternative futures. A Kentucky resident and veteran, Robert P. Givens is also a member of the Veterans Community Alliance of Louisville.

One of the services offered by the Veterans Community Alliance of Louisville (VCAL) is an extensive community resource guide made to assist veterans and their families. By providing an integrated support network of community members, businesses and services, initiatives, and organizations, VCAL hopes to make Louisville a welcoming place for veterans, ensuring they return to an optimal quality of life.

The community resource guide provides lists and contact information of organizations that provide services such as benefits assistance, employment, legal assistance, and housing. This effort also educates Louisville citizens on how best to help veterans, and gives veterans a better handle on their daily needs upon returning home and throughout their lives.

The Importance of Airpower in Germany’s WWII Defeat

Currently responsible for business and strategic planning with RPG Consulting, Robert P. Givens previously served in the U.S. Air Force as general officer of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base. Robert P. Givens is an avid reader of nonfiction and particularly enjoys historical works focused on the American War of Independence and modern airpower.

Air attack capabilities came to the fore in World War Two, when Allied air campaigns played a vital role in the defeat of the Germans in the West European Theater. In 1945, just following the end of World War Two, the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) sought to better understand this role by taking an in-depth look at the effects of RAF and U.S. bombing in the Nazi regime’s defeat.

The conclusion was that at sea, airpower worked in tandem with naval forces to disrupt U-boats, which posed the largest threat to the Allies’ transport of needed supplies and forces. Bombing also set the stage for successful ground incursions through achieving destruction of strategic targets well inside enemy territory.

From February, 1942 on, bombing sorties focused on draining the enemy’s civil population of its morale. This directive went well beyond the normal targeting of submarine building yards, aircraft facilities, and transportation links, and included the targeting of large civilian areas. Whatever the human costs, the RAF & USAAF’s Combined Bomber Offensive did ultimately attain its aim of decimating German industrial capacities and ending a protracted war.